Official RADIOHEAD thread

[Stefen]

I just bought the store version. It's got some really sweet packaging. Also, the lyrics are in their own seperate artbook for those who want to carry it to the can.

Also, it came with two cool decals for slapping on a jewel cd case in case you don't like this packaging. I may slap those decals on my dick at some point.

I don't know how different it is to the discbox. I don't care. Go fuck yourself.

[MacGuffin]

Radiohead agrees to iTunes deal
Source: The Times UK

Radiohead asked fans "how much is our new album worth?" when they released their record as an "honesty box" download. The answer appears to be £7.99 after In Rainbows made a surprise appearance today on the iTunes digital store.

One of the last major bands not to allow their music to be sold through iTunes, Radiohead have now agreed a deal with the Apple computer giant to release their new material.

The deal comes two months after the acclaimed band shocked the record industry by leaving EMI and asking fans to pay whatever they wanted to download their long-awaited new record.

Radiohead refused to release figures for the experiment and denied industry reports that 1.3 million people took up the offer, paying an average of £4 for the album.

The band did confirm that fifteen fans paid the maximum £99.99 for the record. Many more, including singer Thom Yorke, elected to pay nothing.

Controversially, individual tracks from In Rainbows can now be bought at the standard iTunes price of 79p. Radiohead was one of a number of bands unhappy that albums, intended to be heard as a single body of work, could be sold in bite-sized chunks.

At the band's insistence, its iTunes tracks are released in a higher audio quality than most MP3 files on the store. The tracks are also free from copying restrictions, meaning they can be played on virtually any digital device and shared across the web.

Radiohead cut its own deal with iTunes after leaving long-term patrons EMI in acrimonious circumstances. The Oxford group received no payment for digital downloads under its EMI contract.

Yorke said: "In terms of digital income, we've made more money out of this record than out of all the other Radiohead albums put together, forever."

Last year Led Zeppelin added its hits to the iTunes catalogue. The solo work of Paul McCartney and John Lennon is also available and a deal to finally unleash the Beatles catalogue through the store is expected this year.

Radiohead have also released In Rainbows as a physical CD this week after admitting they wanted to see the record in the Oxford branch of Sainsbury's.

It is on course to top the album chart with first week sales of 50,000 copies. The band have also sold 80,000 copies of a boxed set version, with extra tracks, at £40 each.

Radiohead have licensed their music to the online stores 7 Digital and ateaseweb.com, which is releasing In Rainbows</CF> as 320 kbps MP3 files, the highest possible sound quality for a commercial release.

Yorke posted a message on the band's blog in response to a story in The Times which claimed that Radiohead's demands for renewing its EMI contract would have cost the company £10 million.

He denied the band was seeking a large cash advance and criticised EMI, now under the control of private equity company Terra Firma, for "airing (its) dirty laundry in public." The band had been seeking to regain control of its hit recordings from EMI, a demand the label refused to discuss.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Radiohead on course to top album chart

Radiohead are on course to top the UK album chart after finally releasing In Rainbows in shops.

The band made headlines last year when they allowed fans to decide how much to pay to download the new album.

The experiment was at first hailed a success after fans offered up their credit cards for the group's seventh album. But later a survey revealed two-thirds of downloaders paid nothing at all it.

Now the album is heading for the No 1 spot this Sunday, with sales predicted to reach 50,000, proving fans are still willing to part with money to own an actual CD.

"No doubt many people appreciated the opportunity to download the album for free, but this demand also underlines the enduring appeal of the CD," said HMV's Gennaro Castaldo.

"As true fans we love to buy and collect albums by our favourite artists in their physical form while also having the opportunity to create our favourite playlists via downloads.

"The simple truth is we want to have the best of both worlds - to be able to mix and match between physical and digital music. As retailers we're doing more and more to cater to this growing trend."

In Rainbows is outselling Take That's Beautiful World, which bounced back into the number two spot following their New Year ITV concert.

Early January is traditionally a slow time for album sales and 50,000 copies should be enough to push In Rainbows into the top spot. Meanwhile, The X Factor winner Leon Jackson looks likely to retain the No 1 position in the singles chart with When You Believe.

[modage]

The band have also sold 80,000 copies of a boxed set version, with extra tracks, at £40 each.

i wonder where they got that figure or if its accurate.  that would mean the band made 6.4 million dollars from the boxsets alone.  minus of course the production costs which wouuld have to be somewhat substantial.  STILL....

[Stefen]

The band have also sold 80,000 copies of a boxed set version, with extra tracks, at £40 each.

i wonder where they got that figure or if its accurate.  that would mean the band made 6.4 million dollars from the boxsets alone.  minus of course the production costs which wouuld have to be somewhat substantial.  STILL....

Is that alot? Maybe now Jonny can afford to buy himself an H for his first name. Or maybe Thom can give him the one he doesn't need, but he won't because he's a stingy bastard.

[MacGuffin]

Following Radiohead's 'In Rainbows'
Source: Los Angeles Times

Radiohead's pay-what-you-want model turned traditional this week, and it appears the British band's latest album, "In Rainbows," could be headed to the top of the sales chart next week.

The album, which has been available for downloading from he band's website since Oct. 10, was released on CD Tuesday to conventional retailers. The list price is now a less-flexible $13.98, although it could be found selling for as little as $7.99 at major outlets such as Best Buy and Amazon.com.

Early  reports suggest that "In Rainbows"  is on target to sell about 100,000 copies. Its biggest competitor is likely to be Mary J. Blige's "Growing Pains," which took over the No. 1 slot this week with sales of 204,000 copies in its second week in stores.

Despite "In Rainbows" being available for free for three months, this week's CD release got a heavy marketing blitz, including a New Year's Eve webcast on Current TV.

"We didn't want to go out and jam it down people's throats," said Phil Costello, who runs his own label, TBD, through ATO Records, which has released the "In Rainbows" CD, and was a vice president at Radiohead's former label, Capitol. "I think we did a good job of exposing the fact that we were physically putting an album and CD in the marketplace that was reflective of what people were able to download since Oct. 10. The real question is: Who is going to show up and when, and how interested are they in the fact of physical purchase? That's the million-dollar question."

Moving units

At Amoeba Records in Hollywood, general manager Karen Pearson said the store has sold more than 400 "In Rainbows" CDs in its first two days, and more than 100 copies of the vinyl edition. "Radiohead is, of course, a band with a solid base," Pearson said. "The LP is selling actually better than anticipated."

With overall album sales down around 15% in 2007 compared to 2006, according to Nielsen SoundScan, artists and labels are eager to experiment with new models, and the "In Rainbows" trial is now officially in Phase 2.

Radiohead gave just 10 days' advance notice before the Web release of "In Rainbows," the big news being that fans would determine how much they would pay, or whether to pay at all. "Really -- it's up to you," fans downloading the album at www.radiohead.com were advised. The band and its management have remained tight-lipped on exactly how many downloaded the album. One website that surveyed Radiohead fans said that about 60% reported paying nothing.

The big experiment

In a year that saw Prince distributing an album free with a U.K. newspaper, Paul McCartney aligning with Starbucks, and Madonna signing with a concert promoter over a record label, Radiohead's decision to make its latest album available for free was one of 2007's hottest pop-music topics.

But Radiohead and its camp were quick to point out the release wasn't an act of altruism. While the media greeted the move as a death knell for the major labels, Radiohead was busy negotiating with them, and ultimately paired with independent ATO, which is overseen by former Columbia Records group chairman Will Botwin.

So back to the question: If a band gives away a new album for free, will fans purchase an actual CD, one whose bonus content consists of little more than "some cool stickers," according to an e-mail blast from Borders?

"If we would have put three more songs on it, then clearly your first, second and third week sales would be much bigger," Costello said. "There's not a question in my mind about that. But is that the right approach to the core fan base? I don't think so. And I don't think it's the right play for even the secondary people you'd pull in. I wouldn't feel good about that move."

A retail executive with access to first-day sales figures for "In Rainbows" says the album sold 40,000 copies New Year's Day. If it indeed goes on to sell 100,000 copies, that's a significant drop from the band's last album, 2003's "Hail to the Thief," which moved 300,000 copies in its first week. But few of the biggest-selling acts of 2007 have been able to match their peak sales of previous years.

Costello calls "In Rainbows" one of the "warmest," and "broadest-appeal records" Radiohead has made, and expects its to be a consistent seller throughout the year. The album will become available at Starbucks locations beginning Jan. 8, and the band will be touring in 2008. No U.S. dates have been announced, but the band has lined up summer dates in Europe.

Proven longevity

Radiohead traditionally has played for the long haul.

"Hail to the Thief," for instance, has sold about 1 million copies since its release. Another Radiohead spokesperson emphasizes that looking at the first week tallies for "In Rainbows" and "Hail to the Thief" is "comparing apples to oranges," stressing other factors beyond the Web availability, such as the year-to-year decline in CD sales since 2003 and the slow January market.

Last January, for instance,  the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack reached No. 1 with sales of just 66,000 copies, the lowest figure for a No. 1 album since SoundScan started tracking retail sales in 1991.

Yet Billboard Magazine's director of charts, Geoff Mayfield, said there probably is only one reason to explain a large drop in Radiohead's first-week sales compared to that of "Hail to the Thief."

"It's true you don't have the sales volume in January that you have in December," he said. "That's obvious, but if you have a key release, the numbers will happen.

"It will be a decent number, and it's an interesting number," he continued. "But you can't argue either a down market or a soft month to explain why the number is smaller than the last album. The elephant in the room is that you already made the album widely available months before it hit stores."

[Weird. Oh]

paste magazine is trying the same kind of thing - you can pick your subscription price, minimum of $1............so i took them up on it.

did you actually get anything? because I didn't ;(

[72teeth]

paste magazine is trying the same kind of thing - you can pick your subscription price, minimum of $1............so i took them up on it.

did you actually get anything? because I didn't ;(

nor i... ;;((

[tpfkabi]

paste magazine is trying the same kind of thing - you can pick your subscription price, minimum of $1............so i took them up on it.

did you actually get anything? because I didn't ;(

nor i... ;;((

i noticed they didn't charge my credit card until after Christmas.
i have started getting their e-newsletter though.

[MacGuffin]

Source: MTV

Radiohead will tour North America soon — we just don't know when. All we do know is where. The band's publicist released a list of the cities Radiohead will hit on their tour, but they've yet to issue the stretch's dates or any venue information. The trek will make stops in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Seattle, Philadelphia and San Francisco, among other cities.

admin edit: complete list:
http://stereogum.com/archives/radiohead-announce-north-american-tour-markets-for_007658.html

[tpfkabi]

this is exciting.
definitely going to Dallas.
i'm wondering if they'll be varying sets enough to make the longer trip to Houston as well...

...and let's hope w.a.s.t.e's experience with the In Rainbows download will make their ticket experience better.

[Chest Rockwell]

Fuck yea, Atlanta. Who's with me?!

[Chest Rockwell]

Fuck yea, Atlanta. Who's with me?!

Looking at the complete list now, fuck that, Miami is the same distance but less hill and towards the equator, and Tampa has... Maybe I'll do a tour, as well.

[Pozer]

and then can you guys reveal your secret as to how you get tickets for more than one show let alone one of them?

[modage]

yeah really.  i'm thinking if i'm lucky enough to actually GET a ticket i will likely not be able to view the band from it. 

[tpfkabi]

make sure you're on the w.a.s.t.e. ticket sign up list.
i forget what you have to do exactly to get on it.
i've got tics for the Amn and HTTT through them.
the HTTT one was a disaster - i believe they said they'd put tics up on a Monday - i actually didn't go to work to try and get pit tickets, delays, etc, i check all day, no tics, finally i go to sleep. wake up early the next morning to go to work and decide to check and they put them on sale in the middle of the night - maybe 3 a.m. i still got tics, but maybe row mid 20's or early 30's.
Amn i got row 12 or so.